A Call for Marketing Volunteers
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This is a call for volunteers for the Apache OpenOffice (formerly OpenOffice.org) Marketing team.  We have big plans for our next major release, Apache OpenOffice 4.0.  As our development and QA volunteers work on the engineering side of this release, we're also building up our capabilities in critical supporting functions like Marketing.    A high performance Marketing team is essential to explaining the value of OpenOffice to users worldwide.  This work has a direct impact on the success of the OpenOffice project.  It is also fun!

 Why volunteer?
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Why would you want to volunteer with OpenOffice Marketing? A few things to consider:

• We're a fun, international group of volunteers, with a range of skills and experience, dedicated to free software and spreading the word about OpenOffice.
• Helping with marketing is a good way to "give back" to the open source community, something that can be done without requiring special technical skills.
• Contributions are needed from volunteers with a range of experience levels and interests. From copy writing to event planning to graphic design, we need volunteers in many creative and business-oriented disciplines.
• This is a good way to learn about marketing, or one if its sub-disciplines, and gain practical experience.
• OpenOffice is among the most recognized open source brands, up there with Linux, Android and Firefox. Your contributions to our marketing efforts will potentially be seen by millions of users.

What we do¶

Marketing is the set of activities our volunteers undertake to communicate the value and benefits of the OpenOffice product, as well as the OpenOffice project, to potential users and potential project members. Marketing activities within the Apache OpenOffice project include:

• Monitoring and contributing to our social networking presence
• Planning and participating at local and international conferences, giving presentations or staffing booths and answering questions about Apache OpenOffice and the project
• Writing and reviewing project blog posts and press releases
• Answering questions from the press, or being interviewed about the project
• Designing new marketing collateral, such as brochures or CD cover art
• Working as a team to refresh the product's brand and visual signature
• Surveying users to understand their needs and concerns
• Creating a YouTube video to show the highlights of an upcoming release
• Working as a member of a core marketing team to enable a much larger group of volunteers and users promote OpenOffice.

How to Get Involved¶

You can start now, in three easy steps:

1. Subscribe to our public Marketing mailing list by sending an email to marketing-subscribe@openoffice.apache.org and respond to the confirmation email you will then receive.
   
2. Introduce yourself on the mailing list by sending an email to the Marketing mailing list:  marketing@openoffice.apache.org
3. Review our self-paced orientation modules to help you get started.  If you are already familiar with open source projects at Apache, then you can quickly skim over the Level 1 and Level 2 modules and concentrate on the short Introduction to Marketing module.   If, however, you are new to Apache, and want a more methodical approach to getting started, then you can start at Level 1 modules first.

We hope to hear from you soon!